Sewage disposal apparatus



J. A. MONTGOMERY ET AL I 2,464,707

SEWAGE DISPOSAL APPARATUS 2 sheets-sheet 1 N w I Q & v &

March 15, 1949.

O ngmal Flled June 11 1942 M r 9- J. A. MONTGOMERY ET AL 2,464,707

SEWAGE DISPOSAL APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed June 11, 1942 1 .llllll/lllllllfflllllIllfll/l'g Patented Mar. 15, 1949) UNITED STATES.- PATENT OFFICE SEWAGE DISPOSAL APPARATUS John A: Montgomery, Denver,- Colo., and'Louis-E.

Livingston, Dallas, Tex., assig-nors to Lakeside Engineering Gorporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of. Illinois 6 Original application June 11, 1942, Serial No,

446,576. Diyided'and this application December 4, 194 i; Serial No. 566,606

4 Claims,- (Cl. 2107,)

cured by uniformly distributing theorganic load to filter media contained inanaeration chamber,

by simultaneously aerating said organic loadninety per cent over-all-r eduction of. the biolo ical;

oxygen demand of the raw sewage, unless two, or: more filters are used in series and each filter followed by clarification. Moreover, even when two or more filters are used in series, separated;

by an intermediate clarifier; the final; effluent is not as clear as the ellluen-t; from; an activated. sludge process but is more or less turbid and has; a brownish cast.

The excess sludge or bacteria formed; in a trickling filter is continuously withdrawn and is carried with the liquid to the intermediate clarifying tank. Additional purification can be obtained bydelivering the solution from. the intermediate clarifier to a, contact filter in which the filter media is completely submerged and the solutioniscaused to contact bio-logical organisms on the surface of the media in the presence of an abun-. dance of oxygen supplied by air. Additional-purification is also obtained in the contact filter through the fiocculating action caused by the movement of the air upwardly through the liquid.

The air is used to coagulatethe colloidal material;

in the sewage and toy oxidize the undissolved, unstaple organic compounds and some inorganic materials such as hydrogen sulphide into staple.

form. Also the agitation with air aids in floating grease particles that may be present in the sewage.

In using the activated sludge process and also in,

the use of contact filters it is customary to bring; the incoming sewage to the aeratorsat one end of; the tank or one side thereof and to flow the sewage across the tank to the outlet. Such procedure often results in short circuiting of the aeration chamber. Moreover, it does not provide a method for keeping the flocculated grease from passing through the entire plant. In addition, especially;

with contact, filters, the; bulk of the organic load;

2-; entering the-aeration. chamber comes'into contact. with. a. relatively. small; portion. of the filter media duringvthe, first few. minutes. of: contact. A. furr. their difficulty in connection. with. contact filters is.

s that theexcess sludge isidepositedgbelow. the con.-.

tact media. and must be drawnv off; by gravityor by.- meansoi moving rakes-or chains. The use ofthe, latter entails: expensive construction. and difi'r culties in. operation. If a,.mechanical meansor rak gor moving the sludgefrom the lowerpor-.. tion. of; the aeration chamber isnot employed; the: slud e must be collected; in. hoppers. before itcan. be- Withdrawn. from. hetanh. This results. in. an. exc s f sl eac mulationionthehoppen-wans a d very. on-septicaction starts and t esludgeis o the surface i the Anobiec of; he-pr se t n enti n is to p o id a combination tank of improved construction and; op rat ha n an aer tion. h mb r. in contie-n s and. a i e ne. el tion w h settlin ham er. andwhich: 111 mo ide reate pur fication. of sewa ev nd; he ike by n roducing the. ncomin so tion. around. th pe p er of. he, ae ation hamber to m re. even y distr ute. he. or anic-- l ad; to he; fil r ed a. an o. 101' a said r a ic oad nto cq i actw h a reate nortionof: the air nas inhnpwerdly thr ug the ick uid.

A rthe e t, s. o pro de apparatus for t eat n s w ar ns; an ae at on hem e qm n th a. sett in cham er. and; wh rein. the chambers. ar v sep'er tedsi r he reat r; n tion; of e r epth. hav n a onnect n passa e. howev r. ow he air uppl to. th t on. chamber. and; which! pro-ri esa. weir o nerally ircu ar xt nt hat. the ow. he. iquid: between, chambers takes: plac at a. n mum velocity.

Ano her" obiept s o;nrovidelapnare us nwhich skimm n flq cula i aos qnb a r and; setdine;ar allaccomnli hed ins-lemme- A m r PBQ QQ sto royideatanhcomr binins: a Cont ct; fi ter Wt h. a clar fy cham er and whe e n any grease in. he-sewa e.under oin t at nt. w ll be coag l ed a d: colle e on, the, suri c of he; liquid the onta filt r ection. o; ha t e same may" e read y div r ed o. a rease. a nder e ther conti uou y durin the. on erat o of he app at s or at interva s.

th th s and var u other bjects in. view. t e nv ntion; minister certain novel tea.-

ures of onstru tion and; operation, as will; be

more fully escribedz and: part cularly pointed out. n th sp c fication. d awin s and claims. anuencl d hereto...

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- Figure 1 is a sectional View illustrating diagrammatically the manner of using two combination tanks of the invention in series with a primary clarifier;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the combination filter and settling tank embodying the improvements of the invention;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the combination tank taken substantially along line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating a modified construction of the combination tank wherein the filter material in the aeration chamber is increased.

Referring more particularly to the construction shown in Figures 2 and 3, the apparatus of the invention is illustrated as including an outer peripheral wall I'D having a launder H formed by the outwardly projecting horizontal base wall l2, and by the vertical wall I3. The launder is supplied with sewage or other liquid to be processed by the inlet pipe I l which passes through the vertical wall l3 of the launder. Overflow of the liquid therefore takes place with respect to the weir 15 formed by the upper edge of the wall iii of the tank. As a result the liquid is uniformly distributed within the aeration chamber of the tank which is formed by the exterior wall it and by the interior concentric bafiie wall it. In the particular design of tank disclosed the baffle wall I6 divides the same into a central clarifying chamber H and into a peripheral aeration chamber l8, the last mentioned chamber occupying the space between wall H] and the said baffle wall [6.

The sloping bottom wall 2!) of the tank is formed with a sump 2| having connection with a sludge drawoif pipe 22. Rotating sweeper arms 23 are located within the base of the tank, being suitably supported and rotated by the vertical shaft 24 which extends upwardly through the clarifying chamber H. The rotating sweeper arms 23 are thus disposed above the sloping bottom wall 20 and their action when rotating is to direct the sludge deposited on the bottom wall into the sump 2i so that the same may be withdrawn from the tank by the drawoif pipe 22. The clear efliuent from the clarifying chamber ii is continuously withdrawn by the circular outlet member 25, channel shaped in cross section and having connection with the outlet pipe 26 which extends through bafiie wall 16 and through wall of the tank. The position of the outlet ring 25 vertically of the clarifying chamber determines the level of the liquid within the tank.

The aeration chamber 18 is provided with filter media in the form of plates 21 supported in an upright position within the peripheral chamber by members 28. Similar members 29 at the upper end of the plates function as spacing elements and form slots for receiving said plates. A large number of plates are provided extending com pletely around the aeration chamber and being disposed radially with respect to the center of the tank. In addition to the plates other surface providing material such as tile, crushed rock and the like may be used. Air is supplied to the filter media within the aeration chamber by the air supply pipe 30 which passes through the outer wall ll] of the tank and has connection with the annular pipe 3| which is perforated as at 32 so as to discharge air in an upward direction. The:

I convenient means.

annular pipe 3| is suitably supported in position under the plates 21 and it will be observed that the same extends completely around the aeration chamber so that all sections thereof are supplied with currents of air which issue under pressure from the perforations 32 of the pipe. These air currents pass upwardly between the plate 2? and promote the growth of biological organisms on the surface of the plates. The air currents pass upwardly to the surface of the liquid in the aeration chamber, whereas the flow of the liquid in this chamber is in a downward direction. The downwardly flowing liquid is thus aerated and also biological slime coatings are formed on the respective surfaces of the plates. The coatings further purify the liquid by nitrifying the organic substances in the sewage, reducing them to simple salts, and the remaining solids are caused to coagulate into settleable solids, which are eventually precipitated in the clarifying chamber.

The two chambers provided within the combination tank are separated for the greater portion of their depth by the baflie wall I6. However, said baiiie wall terminates a distance above the sloping bottom wall 20 or more properly, a short distance below the annular air pipe 3|. This lower edge of the baffle wall thus forms a circular weir and the space between the weir and the sloping bottom of the tank forms a connecting passage between the aeration chamber, containing the filter media, and the clarifying chamber from which the clarified liquid is Withdrawn. Within this latter chamber the solution flows in an upward direction. This materially facilitates the separation of the solids which are caused to settle out by gravity and are accordingly deposited on the sloping bottom wall of the tank. It will be observed that the rotating scraper arms 23 extend under the clarifying chamber and also under the aeration chamber. These rotating sweeps therefore have action with respect to the sludge and solids settling from both chambers. The deposited material is moved at a relatively slow rate on the sloping bottom of the tank to the sump 2| from which the sludge is withdrawn.

The manner in which the incoming liquid is delivered to the aeration chamber by the laun der H constitutes an important feature of the present apparatus. From the launder the solu; tion overflows the weir l5 and the same is there'- by uniformly distributed throughout the entire peripheral extent of the aeration chamber. The organic load thus comes into contact with the filter media having large surface area and which is well able to take care of its distributed portion of the load. Also the supply of air is adequate for each portion of the load and it will be seen that as regards the present tank it is impossible for the liquid to bypass or short circuit the aeration chamber.

The upwardly flowing air currents in the aeration chamber will cause the coagulated grease and other material of similar nature to float on the surface of the liquid within said chamber. This floating material may be continuously withdrawn or may be withdrawn at intervals by any In Figures 2 and 3 a grease launder 35 is provided comprising the horizontal bottom wall 36 and the vertical wall 31 having the outlet pipe 38 extending therefrom. The launder 35 may extend completely around the tank on the outside of wall l3 or the same may consist of individual sections. In either case the tank .theincoming: liquid. will flow from the trough: llover: the weir" into; the aeration chamber. When. it is desired toskim the grease on other floating material from the surface of the liquid: the flow ofv the, clear eflluent from the outlet. 2:6.- is stopped and. the level of the liquid the tank is thereby raised until the liquid within the aeration. chamber reaches the level on the outlets 48. rise imthe liquid level:will cause thesolution to flow. through. said outlets 40- into the grease trough 3-5.- Theinitial: flow. taking place through openingsdfl:willcomprise the coagulated grease and-.otherfloatingmaterial from thesurface of the. liquid in: the; aeration chamber. After. the new has: continued for a; length of time; to discharge most: of this materialthe outlet pipe .25 is then opened and the flow of the clear efiluent fromzsaidine. is again continued. The level of the liquid. within the tank. will accordingly drop to a point below weir l5 when the normal liquid level is reached, whichis determined by the positionof. the outlet ring 25..

In Figure 1 two combination tanks of the invention are coupled in series and preceded by a primary -clarifier; The incoming sewage, trade Wastes. or the like, are initially delivered by pipe 50 to the well. 5| havin an outlet 52 and which delivers the liquid to a lift pump 53. The lift pump is located within the. dry well 5t and said pump delivers to the vertical pipe 55 having-connect ionv with. the primary clarifier indicated in its-entirety by '56. The pipe 55 has a horizontal section. 51 which passes through the vertical wall 581.0f the. clarifier and also through the inner baffle wall 59 so that the liquid fromthe lift pump is discharged within the bafiie 59, located centrally ofthe primary clarifier and which is substantially; concentric with the outer wall 58 thereof. The baffle wall 59 is suitably supported. in position and it.will be-understood that the liquid entering the chamber formed thereby will be caused to flow downwardly toward the bottom 60 of the primary clarifier. The liquid thereupon enters the settling chamber of the clarifier and in this chamber the flow of the liquid is in an upward direction toward the overflow weir 6|. The upflow of the liquid tends to cause a large proportion of the solids to settle out and the sludge which accumulates on the sloping bottom 69 of the clarifier is moved toward the central discharge pipe 52 by the scraper arms 63 suitably supported and rotated by rod 65. The discharge pipe 62 is provided with a valve 66 so that the flow from this pipe can be controlled.

The liquid overflowing the weir BI is taken by the pipe 68 and delivered to launder H of the combined aeration and settling tank comprising the first stage of the present equipment. From the launder II the solution overflows into the aeration chamber and is eventually delivered to the clarifying chamber, as described with respect to Figures 2 and 3. The effluent from the outlet ring 25 is conducted by pipe 69 to the second stage combination aeration and settling tank. In this latter tank the solution is again subjected to aeration and to purification as a result of contact of the liquid with the biological organisms forming the activated slime coating on the plates 21. The final settling takes place within the clarifying chamber of this see- From then on any further- 6% 0nd stage tank and the cleari eiiiuentflowsdrom outlet ring 25 to the outlr-it'pipelllll.

The sludge outlets. for the tanks, namely, 6,2 for the primary clarifi er, and22 for the first and: second stage combination tanks, respectively; are joined by pipe Hll connecting with the sludge,- pump I02. The flow. fromthis sludge pump may? be delivered through pipe Hi3 back to; the primary clarifierv or by pipev lMto a digester.

In. Figure 4 a modified arrangement is: dis:- closed by which additional, filter media maybe; economically added tov the aeration chamber of. a combination tank such, as. shown; inFiguresB: and 4. The additionalplates: H15 are suitably: supported from or integral with plates 21'.2.I1di it will be observed that said additional plates are, diagonally disposed with respect. thereto. This diagonal positioning of the additional plates.

maintains the desired distance between adjacent.

plates although only alternate plates 21 are-provided withsuch extensions. In other respects: the construction and operation of the tank; of Figure 4 is the same as previously described, the" tank having an inlet pipe M forthe incoming, sewage discharging into a peripheral launder II. The, aeration chamber I8 is increasedin. width; and large; surface area is provided by; the filter media as a result of the extensions, to plates 2;! provided by the diagonal plates i051 The cylindrical baffie wall it is, generally of the same diameter as that shown in Figure 3 andthe clearv effluent from the clarifying chamber 67- is drawn. ofi from the tank, of Figure. 4. by the outlet ring EE-and outlet pipe 26.

Although the aeration chamber in Figures 2;- and 3 is shown as extending around a centrally: located clarifying chamber it is, of cou1'se,,pos,,- sible to reverse said chambersin which case the aeration chamber wouldcomprise the space with,- in the bafile wall it and the clarifying chamber would comprise the peripheral space between; said baffle wall and the wall. In. of the. tank. The: present combination tankv has; many desirable features which make possible certain constructional economies with better purification of the sewage. As a result of the present design the coagulated grease and other floating material will collect on the surface of the liquid within the aeration chamber. All possibility of this grease passing through the apparatus has been eliminated in the present design and. by raising the liquid level in the apparatus this grease and other floating material can be diverted to the auxiliary launder and removed from the apparatus. Although the liquid flows downwardly in the aeration chamber the air currents flow in an upward direction and said currents keep the light sludge in suspension in the liquid until coagulated into heavier particles which settle out in the settling chamber. The air not only coagulates the colloidal material but also oxidizes many unstaple compounds in the sewage to staple forms. The scraper mechanism is common to both chambers, having a length whereby the arms extend across the entire tank bottom. Accordingly, the deposited sludge is removed from under both chambers before septic action can take place.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction of the particular embodiment thereof illustrated by the drawings, as various other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination aeration and settling tank comprising an exterior vertical wall and a connecting bottom wall, a baffle member within the tank in spaced relation to the walls thereof, said bafile member extending from the top of the tank to adjacent the bottom wall and dividing the tank into an aeration chamber and a settling chamber with a connecting passage below the said bafile member for joining the lower portion of said chambers, said aeration chamber in the upper portion thereof having an influent trough for supplying incoming liquid to the chamber, filter media within the aeration chamber below the trough and below the top edge of the battle member, air supply means also located within said aeration chamber below the filter media, an outlet for clear liquid having location in the upper portion of the settling chamber at a point below the top edge of the baffle member, and sludge removing mechanism including scraper arms movable over the bottom Wall of the tank substantially parallel thereto and extending under both said chambers.

2. A combination aeration and settling tank as defined by claim 1, wherein the bottom wall is provided with a central discharge opening for withdrawing from the tank the sludge from both said chambers.

3. A combination aeration and settling tank as defined by claim 1, additionally including a grease launder located below the top edge of the baiile member and having associated relation with the aeration chamber, said launder having openings connecting the same with the aeration chamber and which openings are positioned above the normal level of the liquid in said chamber.

4. A combination aeration and settling tank comprising an exterior vertical wall and a connecting bottom wall, a bafile member within the tank in concentric and spaced relation with said exterior wall and in spaced relation with respect to the bottom wall, said baiile member extending from the top'ofthe' tank to adjacent the bottom located Within th aeration chamber below the filter media, an outlet for clear liquid having location in the upper portion of the settling chamber at a point below the top edge of the baiile member, and sludge removing mechanism including rotatable scraper arms extending under both said chambers and having movement over the bottom wall of the tank for removing the sludge to a common outlet.

JOHN A. MONTGOMERY.

LOUIS E. LIVINGSTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 830,552 Zelgler Sept. 11, 1906 1,396,397 Borst Nov. 8,1921 1,526,197 Ahlqvist Feb. 10, 1925 1,805,682 Borst May 19, 1931 2,008,507 Laughlin July 16, 1935 2,051,149 Nordell Aug. 18, 1936 2,056,062 Zack Sept. 29, 1936 2,223,257 Mallory Nov. 26, 1940 2,233,792 Mallory Mar. 4, 1941 2,322,017 Hartman June 15, 1943 2,353,358 Prager July 11, 1944 2,370,974 Langdon Mar. 6, 1945 2,377,545 Felsecker June 5, 1945 2,388,795 Montgomery et a1. Nov. 13, 1945 

